Valkyrie Crusade: Below Maid Manor
by Essay King of VC
Summary: A new event has started, and a famous Aristocrat of the Celestial Realm has sponsored his manor as an event location which entices every Lord, including Shawn King and his Alliance comrades. But what is behind the closed doors of the manor? What dark plot will Shawn and his friends all learn? P.S. I do not own Valkyrie Crusade.
1. Chapter 1

"So, have you yet thought about the price?" a thick British accent echoed around the wet cave walls, the darkness shadowing the faces of all who stood inside, "Because as far as my knowledge goes… The event has finished, and they are planning another…" In front of the man was six others, all sitting on the flat, smooth and dark surface of a rock.

A sentence in pure, but gruff Japanese replied to him, causing him to groan in a puzzled manner. Before long, a slap entered the British's ear, then a young man's voice spoke, "Oi, oi, didn't I tell you he don't know J.P? Were you even listening? Okay, now then, the price... How about a place in our ranks?"

The other man's statement reached the British man's ears like gold, and he gleefully replied, "Yes, yes! That would most certainly be a good reward!"

"But we want results…" the man stopped the other's praises, a cocky smile forming on his face, "I assume that you have a plan for this?" The man hesitantly replied, "W-why, yes! I-I do have a plan ready for action!" The young man gave a chuckle, before continuing, "Good, very good. It seems to be a very fascinating and ingenious idea…"

"What?" the man spoke, "I do not remember ever tell you about my plans?" "You didn't need to…" In the shadows, the young man turned his head to the left, and signaled one of the others to give him something. An emotionless, child-like female voice replied to him, "I wrote everything down on this piece of paper…" The man clutched it on his hand, and silently read it in front of the other. "Hmm, yes, very interesting indeed… I suppose that there is no room for errors on this plan…?"

"Y-yes, sir! I have made the necessary preparations to stop any problems or mistakes from happening! I assure you that this plan will not fail!"

The young man gave a queer chuckle, and a sly grin crawled up his face. "Good… Now go, go and make all the necessary preparations! Time is of the essence!"

"Now go, go and kill every Valkyrie that sets her foots on your trap…!"

* * *

He threw the pen to the table, his breaths heavy and tired. The man's face was red with anger and fatigue, his lips bordered with coffee stains and his hair in great frazzles that could be compared to lush jungles and forests. He smelled of eight days of stressful sweat and his skin was moist from all the liquid waste his skin produced.

For a whole day, Lead Event Designer Amano Osu tried to get an idea out of his tangled brain. Charged for making each and every event possible, he had a heavy burden on his shoulders, and his mind was finally collapsing because of it. He was running out of ideas, and this was a big problem. "Gnh…!" he clenched his teeth with strength, cupping the sides of his head as if they were hurting, "I can't believe this! All my ideas! Gone! I thought it was endless, but it really isn't!" he cried to himself, a tone of great agony in his voice. It was then that he heard a buzzing voice emit off the top of his table. His Realm Phone had received a message.

_Okay, to give you a clue, Realm Phones are devices used by the Lords and the Council Officials to communicate with each other. Any calls or messages are transported through an invisible wave known as the Celestial-Net Link System, which runs across the whole of the Celestial Realm. The Phone is also used by every Lord to check their overall rank amongst the Lord community, but other than that, there were not of much use._

"Huh, who would be messaging me at this time?" he turned on his phone, and slowly read the message. As time went by, he slowly got more interested in the message, and when he finished reading it, he re-read it again, just to clarify the whole thing, "I-it's a miracle…" he muttered to himself, his voice shaking in awe.

Rushing out, he ran for the Council Conference Room, ready to give out the news. When he reached there, he immediately opened the door, ignoring the meeting that was taking place. "Grand Chairman!" he cried, his mouth as wide as the whole of space.

"One of our Lead Secretary's gave me an idea for an event, and he's sponsoring the location, also!"

This caused an outcry in the room, as people were complaining of this man crashing in and disrupting the meeting, and others asking who it was. With all that commotion, they failed to notice someone hanging upside down from the outside, peering through the window.

The young man had sleek, jet black hair, a big grin etched on his face. His eyes closed and he gave a friendly smile out of no apparent reason. He gave a quiet chuckle, before he slowly climbed up, but not before speaking with an oh-so-familiar voice.

"The bloodbath starts now…"


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey, guys, welcome to my new... Wait, why am I introducing it now? Well, now its time for the story to get a bit more serious. Now, this fanfiction is about Valkyrie Crusade's event 'Maid in Heaven', and the location is the event's area, Maid Manor. Okay, seeing how little backstory we have of the manor itself, I thought of writing this fanfic to explain it to you in my own words. This fanfiction introduces a few new OCs and villains which might appear in my next few fanfics. For now, there isn't any action here, but in the next chapter, the tension's really gonna rise! _

_And, as I've forgotten in the first chapter, Valkyrie Crusade is owned by Nubee, not by me. All events happening in this work of fiction do not appear in the game or in any VC-related media. Please support the game by playing it._

* * *

The moon rose slowly over the land, like an omniscient eye staring down at the creatures that inhabited the Celestial Realm. Below the shadows, away from the moon's view, was a line of carriages riding through a path to its destination. The carriages stretched on for miles, all of them carrying three to four passengers. Their golden husk gleamed in the moonlight like fireflies while the horses trod through the terrain as they panted and grunted. Inside the lead carriage slept four Lords, one of them being Shawn 'Donut' King.

"Hey, wake up," a hand gently shoved Shawn's shoulder, and he slowly exited the dream world. It was quite dark, at the moment, and all he could see was the silhouette of all his friends. "H-huh? What time is it?" he rubbed his eyes and gave a quiet yawn, trying to focus at his friend despite the lack of lighting.

"It's three in the morning. In just a few hours, we'll be there." "Then why did you wake me up…?" he murmured, ready to fall back to sleep anytime. "Well, I'm just worried about all our Valkyries. Are they okay? Why don't you go and ask?" Shawn rolled his eyes before poking his head out of the carriage window, yelling at the top of his lungs a question, "EVERYONE OKAY?!"

Of course, there was only quiet groans and 'shut up's, but Shawn refrained himself from asking again on the fact that they all were still asleep, and didn't want to be waked, and on the fact that he himself wanted to go back to sleep. "Yeah," he retracted himself from the window and faced his friend, who was still hiding in the dark, "They're all right…"

His friend gave a unimpressed sigh before signaling him to go back to sleep. Sadly, Shawn couldn't go back to sleep. He just couldn't. "I can't sleep…" he blurted out to his friend. For some time, silence surrounded them. Shawn stayed silent, waiting for a reply, while his friend stayed silent because he was letting him sleep.

It was then that Shawn decided to stop sleeping and have a conversation with his friend in the dark. "Wanna tell jokes?" Of course, his friend was more than happy to joke around and talk in funny accents.

* * *

**(A few hours later…**

Well, after that pointless scene and after a ton of laughs, Shawn peered through the window, a big smile forming on his face. "We're here!" Turning back to his sleeping friends, he yelled in delight, "Land ho, guys! Maid Manor's just ahead!" With all the noise, the two remaining Lords had no choice but to wake up. "Sate, watashi wa me o samashida…" said the shortest Lord, his Japanese foreign to the others. "Please speak English…" the young man rolled his eyes and repeated in English, "Okay, I'm awake…"

"Tehát mi az idő?" the othr asked about the time in fluent Hungarian, which raised Shawn's eyebrows, "Was that Russian, German, Croatian, Indian, Inuit or gibberish?" The Lord only sighed, placing his forehead on his hands and shaking his head and grabbing a slender stick beside him. "No, dummkopf (1), that was Hungarian. Didn't I tell you to get Linguistic classes back at your kingdom?"

Shawn started to think for a while, before saying no with the face of a confused child. "Okay, guys, chill down," said the Lord that had been talking to Shawn for the night; a chubby man with combed-back hair, "Check your suits, we have to be presentable today. Our Alliance can't be insulted and looked down."

And so, they all checked their suits before arriving. After a few more minutes, the carriage came to a complete stop, and the Manor's butler helped the Lords open the door. "Good morning, sir," greeted the well-dressed butler, "Welcome to Maid Manor."

The first one to come out, of course, was Shawn himself, the 'Celestial Realms Most Iconic'. Today, he wore a business-class suit for the occasion, a checkered tie on his neck. His clothes were fully ironed, and were ready to impress. With a Realm Phone on his hands, he really did look like a Business man, and, adding the leather, gold-plated shoes, he looked ready to make appointments and the likes. His charcoal colored hair was as black as night and it was combed into a slick back hairstyle. "Amazing…" a smile stretched around his face as he absorbed the sights, the sounds and the smells outside the Manor.

The next one to come out was the multi-linguistic young man, his jet-black hoodie a not-so-proper attire in such an important event. He was Jordan E. Say, the 'Fighter Along Valkyries'. On his hand was a thin but long stick, its fragile structure seemingly ready to break with just a bit of force. With the stick on his hand, he used it as if it were a walking stick for the rich. His 'Double-Lens' monocle gave him a piercing glare, and his messy, dirt brown hair didn't give a good impression. A little strand of black hair stood up on the summit of his head, as if it were a single insect antenna. He didn't wear any formal shoes, just strapped sandals, because as his philosophy goes, 'You don't need to look proper in parties, just speak proper' (Translated from Dutch-to-English). "Hmm, it doesn't really impress me much, but does it look like I care…?" he spoke monotonously, his head slowly looking around. A dull, sad atmosphere surrounded him like the plague, but the others were okay with that.

Next to emerge was the chubby man, blonde hair reflecting the glow of the sun. He was Ian Konoyami, the 'Lord of Jokes'. He was the Leader of a powerful Alliance which consisted of the other three, and he was as funny as any comedian. He was dressed in a large tuxedo, complete with a black tie and black leather boots. His hair was combed back like Shawn, although with a bit of imperfection here and there. A small strand of hair curled down on his forehead like a crescent moon. He had a smile that would lighten anyone's day and he had a store of jokes far better than any clown. "Oh damn, this place better have the stuff I want!" he spoke in his funny 'ghetto' accent (_**Don't worry, we ain't **__**racist!**_)

The last to come out was the Japanese speaking man, his checkered shirt standing out from the other's darker clothing. People mainly call him 'Sain', because he never told anyone other than the others his name. Titled the 'Trump Card Player', he had a six of hearts card on his breast pocket and an ace of spades on his left pants pocket. He didn't look like he was ready for an event, he looked like he was ready to sit on a sofa and watch television. His short hair was uncombed and messy, but he didn't care. He had the same philosophy as Jordan, but with a few differences here and there. "Sugoi!" he cried in Japanese, his face smiling with glee.

And so, the four stepped out of their carriages, and they all formed the 'Four Superpowers of the Alliance', with Shawn being the top. Behind them, the other carriages were unloading, allowing all of their Valkyries to take a glimpse of the manor that seemed a bit too small to fit each and every one of them.

The door of the manor slowly opened, revealing a gentleman with a small, grey moustache. "Welcome, my fellow Lords," said the man with a thick British accent. Before Shawn could speak, Jordan had stopped him, whispering in his ears, "I'll do the talking…" Walking in front of the group, he cleared his throat, and started speaking like an aristocrat, "Ah, yes, you must be the owner of this fine manor, am I not wrong?"

The man chuckled at the sound of Jordan's voice, amused that a poorly dressed man would speak in such a rich way, "Yes, I own this fine establishment. My name is Jacque Jacopo, now-retired Lord, former member of the Council and now resting in this fine manor of mine. Why don't you come in and marvel at the interior instead of the exterior?" Immediately, three of them rushed in, but Jordan calmly walked inside with the pace mimicking the Valkyries. "I hope you have a good stay, and beware of the Gods' Army," Jacque gave his best smile at the Lord.

But even with that smile, the Lord couldn't put his finger on a feeling he had when he saw him. He quickly shook off the feeling and walked away to the others, clapping his stick on the floor while the Valkyries ran off to do their own things. For the moment, Jacque kept his encouraging smile as he watched the Valkyries walk away to check the strangely-big-on-the-inside manor.

* * *

(1): Dummkopf is German for 'fool'.


	3. Chapter 3

_New chapter! Okay, this fanfic is actually going to focus more on the Lords, and less on the Valkyries. Yes, they are still important, but the story is more on the Lords and all that. Okay, before I continue, here is a better description of the Lords:_

**Shawn 'Donut' King: AKA the 'Celestial Realms Most Iconic', he actually isn't the most are other people more powerful than him, but his actions have changed the Celestial Realm by a large amount, like defeating Hades before she could take over the Celestial Realm and nearly making every Archwitch come to his side. A calm, funny but sometimes dumb airhead, he is a pervert at times, but is kind and caring with his Valkyries. He got his nickname 'Donut' for his love for Pastry Chef's donuts, which he eats in tea-time. Owns nearly every Valkyrie.**

**Jordan E. Say: AKA the 'Fighter Along Valkyries'. As the title says, he fights along with the Valkyries using his Valkyrie's buff and his trusty thin stick he acquired at a young age from his father. He, with the use of the Kingdom Linguistic Classes, has learnt nearly every language on Earth, and his constant use of it in class has influenced him to use it outside the classes. He is mainly very quite, but if he has to speak, then he actually raises his voice and speaks. Also very dense. Owns some Valkyries, but most noticeable Fortuna, Familiar Spirit and Black Cat. Loves eating Chocodevil's 'Devil Ganaches'.**

**Ian Konoyami: AKA 'Lord of Jokes'. A chubby man with a whole store of accents, he is the group's Alliance Leader, although he really isn't the strongest. HE is very friendly, happy-go-lucky and loves telling jokes and speaking in an accent (or both), but gets serious when big things happen. He bonds very well with new Valkyries, but sometimes takes things a bit too far. Owns quite an amount of Valkyries, most noticeably Calligrapher, who likes drawing him as a muscular guy (LOL, what?).**

**Sain: AKA the 'Trump Card Player'. He is the shortest and the thinnest in the group, but his overall imaginations about his Valkyrie 'Spade' is as big as the Celestial Realm itself. He never discloses his name to people other than his friends, and always carries a few cards on him, especially an 'Ace of Spades'. Sometimes spontaneous, he is very gentle with most of his Valkyries, although he is most gentle (and flirty) with his favourite Valkyrie, Spade. Owns a few Valkyries, most noticeably Spade.**

Spade only rolled her eyes, before replying back, "This must be the first time you've ever said a full sentence in English without anyone reminding you to speak in English." Sain only chuckled at her remark as he scooped up a mountain of salad on to his plate, "You are so funny, Spade!" She only groaned at his praise and continued taking food with her giant spear.

Ian, on the other hand, was in the middle of a huge crowd, who had gathered to hear his jokes and funny imitations. Still, even with all the people around, he couldn't help but notice the two maids staring at the far wall in front of him. One was an adult, her blonde hair reaching her ample waist and her maid dress flowing like a sea of fabric. Her eyes glared at the group, and Ian was starting to get suspicious of that. The other was a young adolescent, her two black ponytails long and slender and her smile and heterochromiaeyes were full of evil and malicious intent. On her hands was a scissor and a cotton thread which was being cut into pieces with the scissors.

"Hey," Ian called to the blonde haired woman, signaling her to come to him. She did as she was told, and in a matter of seconds, she was in front of him. "Yes, what is it that you wish?" That was when Ian tried to get cocky, "Damn, girl, yer owner's lucky to have you!" he spoke in his other accent, "What's yer name, blondy?" She, although angry, hesitated in answering that question, and instead turned around to the black-haired girl, who still rested on the wall. It was as if she had read her friend's mind, and the girl signaled to her with a blink of an eye. Turning around, she answered, "I am milord's personal maid, Teal."

Ian faced the crowd and joked, "Well, he even more lucky, now!" The crowd started to giggle at his joke, and Teal was getting angrier every second. "So, lady, how about we-" he gently grabbed her hand, and this caused Teal to snap. In an instance, she had immobilized the Lord and pinned him on the table, shocking the others.

"Touch me again, and you won't know what happens next…" she growled through clenched teeth, as Ian tried to piece together what had happened. He tried to struggle out, but her hands and foot had solidly nailed him down. The Valkyries, seeing their master being attacked, began to take up arms and get ready for anything imminent.

"My, my, what in the world is happening here?" Jacque emerged from the group, his face a look of surprise and confusion. Seeing her personal maid on top of Ian, he cried, "What are you doing, Teal?! This is not how you treat guests!" He quickly, but gently pushed her off the comedian, and helped him back up and even dusted his clothes for him, "A thousand apologies, but my maid here is very shy about men other than me touching her. I hope you are not terribly injured." Ian only muttered a no before sitting back down and saying, "The IAN is BACK!" which made the crowd cheer in relief.

Smiling at the happy crowd, Jacque turned to his maid, before giving a small smile and muttering softly, although loud enough for everyone else to hear, "If this happens one more time, there are going to be many complications…" She only bowed obediently in reply and went back to watch the scene with her friend.

"So…?" the other maid said, "What did you find in his pocket?" Teal only gave a calm smile before presenting an item to her. "His Realm phone…"

* * *

Shawn, on the other hand, was roaming the manor with Jordan, who had brought his stick along with him. Walking around, the two examined the hallway. The wooden doors beside them led to different rooms, most of them bedrooms and the likes. The hallway was light by bright candles that never seem to die out, and the marble tiles seemed to reflect light off the candles, causing the whole hallway to look like a sun sitting in a tube. It was just as bright as heck.

"I wonder if the Gods army is around here?" Shawn asked. His friend only raised his shoulders in a I-don't-know fashion, but that was when a Valkyrie card magically floated down from the ceiling and transformed into a copy of the Valkyrie 'Maid'. Surprised by the sudden appearance of her, they failed to notice her sword slicing the air towards them.

"Down," the hooded Lord muttered, pushing Shawn's shoulder to the ground, missing the two by an inch, slamming into the wall and creating a deep cut in the marble. "What're we gonna do?!" asked Shawn, who was fumbling back up, "Our Valkyries aren't here with us!"

Hearing this, Jordan calmly stood up from the ground, tightening his grip on his thin stick and facing the Valkyrie clone. "Priyatel (1), you know why they call me the 'Fighter along Valkyries', Shawn-ey?" he questioned, his voice emotionless like a black and white film. Slowly, he twirled the stick on his fingers, and before it reached the tip, he grasped it and wielded it like a sword. "This is why…"

Maid had swung her sword again, but with a quick duck and a slide that made him reappear behind her, he stabbed the stick through Maid's back sending her flying and crashing on Shawn. By now, most would think that the stick was broken by the sheer force, but it was still okay. There were no cracks in the wood and it was in a good condition. "Okay, Jojo, you've showed me so many times already, you don't have to do it again!" cried Shawn. He slowly got up, but found a card float down from his suit. It was the Valkyrie Card from before, but now it had a clean, perfect hole in the middle of it.

"Seutig-eul gwaso pyeong-gahaji masibsio, Korean for 'Don't underestimate the stick'…" Shawn gave a light chuckle and a weak smile before patting his friend on the back and coaxing him to go back to the others.

Unnoticed by the two, a silhouette watched them in the shadows, calculating their every move, "Speed of attack…" a feminine voice spoke, "Close to 40 kilometers an hour… Impressive."

* * *

"Hey," a greeting caught Jacque's attention, and he turned away from the window he was facing and found himself face-to-face with Ian. "Oh, hello, my friend, I suppose no trouble has befallen you for the moment," he gave a smile and received one back. "So, dawg, where are our carriages at?" Ian spoke with his accent, trying to get one bit of laughter out of the Master of the Manor. Jacque only stared in a puzzled manner.

"Well, the carriages are-." Before he could finish his sentence, Ian's eyes widened in shock as he pointed to the horizon, "Is that fire?" A look of dread carved its way on to the owner's face, and he turned around to see if it was true. To his horror, there was a fire, and a very big one. "N-no, the carriages!"

"Wait, what!?" cried Ian as watched Jacque run to inform the others about the disaster unfolding in front of the Lord's eyes.

Before long, most of the Valkyries who used water as their main element had extinguished the fire, but they were too late to save the carriages, which were charred and scorched. "Libera nos, Deus est. … (2)" Jordan solemnly flipped his hoodie away as he watched the people try to find their carriages, which had, nonetheless, burned like the others. The air smelled of burnt wood and melted steel, a sickening smell to some.

"Dare ga kore o shinakatta?" muttered Sain. "ENGLISH…" replied everyone. "Who did this?" he replied in perfect English. Jacque replied with a meek, "I don't know…" In the distance, Shawn was rushing to the group, panting with a puzzled look on his face, "What happened to our carriages?!" The group only shook their heads in silence, sending a shock of horror through the Lord's body. "No, how're we going to go back home!?"

"Now, now, calm down, my boy, I'm sure we can find a solution and an explanation for this," said Jacque, trying to calm the Lord down. "Sir," the hooded Lord attracted the gentleman's attention, "Where can we stay until we can find a way to get back home? Your house must not be able to fit us all in." Hearing this, a suggestion surged into the retired Lord's mind and he quickly cleared his throat and spoke, "There are the guest quarters," he pointed to a building that faced the cliff, "Over there. I built it to hold close to a thousand people."

"Hmm…" Ian stared at the building, "Now why did you make it to house OVER 9000 people?" The question had caught Jacque off-guard, and he stuttered out a sentence, "Well, you see here, many people visit my home, and many people love staying at my home. But because I don't have that many bedrooms, I constructed that building for the people."

Seeing this kind gesture, Shawn had tried to thank him profusely, "Thank you, thank you! I hope we can make it up to you one day!" And so, after a few more vocal exchanges, they left to tell the Valkyries to move to the building and settle down. Still, there was a ominous feeling that Jordan couldn't shake off. Peering into the charcoal city, he saw a spectacled girl in the fray, her outfit instantly giving him the impression of a maid. She had an unsure look on her face, as if she had made a mistake and didn't have an excuse for it. "Hmm…" he turned away and continued with the others.

"Wait," the Alliance Leader started to check his pockets, "I think I forgot my Realm Phone!" He quickly turned back and ran for the manor. When he reached the Living room, which they were in moments ago, he started to look for his phone. "You looking for this?" a voice from behind called to him, and he turned around and found the maid with the different colored eyes and black hair. His phone was dangling on her two fingers, as if she was ready to drop them to the ground. "Oh, thanks!" he walked up to her and reached for his phone. "Did you know…?" her question stopped Ian's hands in its tracks, "I heard that someone died in the fire…"

"Wait, what?"

* * *

(1): Bulgarian pronunciation for 'friend'.

(2): Latin for 'Deliver us, O God'. I wanted it to be: 'May God bring us home', but the translators sucked…


	4. Chapter 4

Evening fell quickly on the Manor, and a dull orange glow emitted from the setting sun. The carriages had stopped smoking, and people were searching the wreckage for any evidence for arson. The four Lords, seeing how they had more Valkyries than everyone else, had suggested that they settled in first and assign the Valkyrie their rooms. Jacque had gone back to his Manor to try and see if he could assess the situation with the council, seeing how he had ties with the Valkyrie Council.

"Okay," Shawn and his humongous group of Valkyries walked through the corridor, inspecting every room they passed, "This shall be your room, Polaris. At least it's got a view." Leaving the Valkyrie to tend to the room, he continued assigning rooms to each and every Valkyrie. "Urgh, wish Miss and Oracle were here…"

Sad to say, the two twin sisters were back at Shawn's Kingdom. Miss was handling the Kingdom and helping her Master collect resources while her sister Oracle was still in need of rest. Although the council rules had said that no Lord was to go out without an advisor, Shawn had ignored it and came with his friends along with their own personal advisors, and that of course had its disadvantages.

Asking for a toilet break, the Lord ran off to do his business, but bumped into Jordan in the process. "Hey, Shawn," the Lord dully greeted with a raised hand, and Shawn replied back with a 'hi' before rushing away. "Hvad er travlt (1)?" the Lord solemnly blinked, "Toilet break? I see…" he then continued down the entwined hallways with a bunny girl behind him. She was Jordan's self-proclaimed advisor, Fortuna, and she had a look of worry on her face. "Um, Master, do you think we'll ever find out who destroyed our carriages?"

He looked back to the distressed Valkyrie, then turned away and muttered, "Maybe… Maybe not, but for now," he pulled out his Realm Phone and showed it to her with a calm smile on his face, "I ain't gonna call the council. This mystery's starting to intrigue me…"

* * *

"Hey, where's Spade?" Sain asked the question to everyone who crossed his path, and they all answered with a 'I-don't-know'. "Where is SHE!?" he cried.

* * *

Unknowingly, Spade was still in the scene of the crime, examining the burnt carriages with a careful eye. There were no traces of a person setting the fire, so Spade was getting confused but at the same time amused by this mystery. Behind her, she could hear the wailing of a woman, her charred husband on the ground. The two couple were both Lords who had married and joined Kingdoms together, but, seeing how one Lord was gone, the other was going to have a hard time coping with the deceased individual's Kingdom.

"Sad," she muttered, "That one had to die in the flames and not by the blade…" Her grip on her spear tightened, and she continued examining the little amounts of evidence in the area. While walking through a row of broken carriages, her foot kicked a piece of half-burnt cloth, which she took interest to. It was a towel, half of the pink color still intact. She had recognized it immediately. It was the Manor's bathroom towels, but why was it here? "Unless…" she looked at the ground, and saw a small trail of ashes, as if it were a burnt wick of a candle.

She turned her head to the Manor, and had caught a glimpse of one of the maids, her hands carrying a stack of pink towels. "A prime suspect…" and in an instance, she was gone, moving through the carriage shadows and avoiding the orange sunlight.

The maid, on the other hand, was slowly walking through the hallway, struggling to hold up the small stack of towels, which slowly fell off one by one. "N-no," she reached down to take a piece, but lost her balance and sending the towel, and herself, crashing down, "AH!" She weakly got herself up from the floor and started to take back the towels, worry escaping her weak eyes, "Oh no, Master Jacque isn't going to be happy…!" she whimpered.

She was about to get the last towel until the tip of a black spear pinned the towel to the ground, missing the maid's hand by an inch. She screeched in surprise, stumbling to the ground in the process. Above her, Spade stood emotionless, her eyes glaring into the maid's very soul, sending shivers down the girl's spine. "A-ah, d-don't kill me!" she cried, her arm covering her head as if she was expecting a blow.

It never came. Instead, Spade grabbed the arm and pulled her up. She immediately pinned her to a wall and glared deeper into her eyes before speaking, "What were you doing in the carriage park?"

She stuttered with fear, "I-I was j-just attending t-to the p-people! Jacque r-requested me to h-help p-put out the f-fire!"

Spade's gaze didn't falter. In fact, they strengthened as she continued getting impatient of her excuses, "You're lying, I can see it in your eyes…" she growled, sending the maid into a cringing seizure.

"N-NO! I'm not l-lying! I-I'm just v-very tired, t-that's all! A-and I have s-stuttering speech d-disorder!"

She knew those were lies. Seeing how the maid's eyes kept straying away from her gaze gave her the answer, "You are the culprit." That was when the maid started to panic even more (If that was possible, seeing how she was already panicking at her fullest).

"W-why would you b-blame m-me for t-the fire!? I-I'm innocent!" her arms were flailing in the air, panic-stricken and full of dread. While they were flailing, a box slipped from her sleeves and fell to the ground. It was a matchbox. "U-uh, w-where did that c-come from…?"

Now the puzzle was pieced, thought Spade. She slowly raised her spear and aimed it at her stomach, saying, 'Today, your crime shall be reversed…"

Before the Valkyrie could plunge the weapon into the maid's abdomen, she quickly stuttered a question, "B-by the way, m-may I k-kindly ask your n-name?!"

Spade raised an eyebrow at the sudden question, but she calmly answered in before raising the spear high above them, ready to end a life. But that was when a hard object smashed her from behind, and she fell to the ground, nearly unconscious and injured. Her spear was beside her, and she tried to reach it, but it was kicked away by a foot wearing high heels. She could feel a trail of blood trickle down her head as she groaned in pain, trying to stay conscious.

A snicker entered her numb ears, and a voice told her, "Well, Milady Spade, it seems that you aren't the trump card today." That was when the darkness closed around her, drifting her into the world of unconsciousness.

* * *

(1): Danish for 'What's the hurry?'


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi, guys, Essay king here! Sorry for not updating this fanfiction for a long time. It's just that I have school work, the exams are coming up and I have an overall lack of dedication for this story. Fortunately, I persevered and finished it! YAY! Put on some fireworks! Just kidding. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

"Someone died?" Jordan asked with the greatest interest, his eyes perking up to what his Alliance Leader had said. Around him were his friends, who were all sitting on sofas, other than Ian, who, face dripping with sweat, had just opened the door and announced his discovery. "Yeah," he had panted as if he had been out of breath the whole of his life, "Learned it just a while ago… One of the maids told me that…"

"Hmm…" Shawn placed a hand on his chin, pulling out his Realm Phone and checking the list of Lords. In an instant after he opened the list, a notification had told him that one Lord had died of arson. "Damn, that's just sad…" The others nodded solemnly in reply, all but one feeling the same emotion he felt. Sain gave a snicker, attracting everyone's attention, "Well, he wasn't a powerful Lord, was he?"

Jordan glared at his comrade, "Where is your pitye? Your pity?" he muttered harshly, shutting Sain up.

The group fell into silence. Jordan was praying for the deceased, Shawn was thinking of a way to get out of the awkwardness, Ian wanted to rest and Sain just didn't feel like saying anything, afraid that his comrades would tell him off. It was long before Jordan's advisor and Valkyrie, Fortuna, hopped her way through the silence, unaware of the discomfort, and stopped in front of her Master.

"Each and every Valkyrie has settled in! You don't have to worry about anything now!" she gave a sweet smile, her eyes blinking quickly as if they were waiting for a reply.

Her Master only shook his head and gave a small, but powerful smile. He immediately shooed her away so that the group could be alone for a while, and she did as she was told. The Lord then turned to his friends, smirked, and said, "If you think I like her, then your hypothesis is wrong." And so, the group fell into silence yet again.

"Then tell me," Shawn muttered silently, although loud enough for all who had ears to hear, "Why are you blushing?"

Jordan immediately noticed the heat in his cheeks, and his instincts told him to cover the lower part of his face with his arm and try to hide all the evidence. He couldn't help blushing in front of his friends. It just came out naturally, but it seemed that his friends were catching up to his thoughts. It really wasn't that he liked her or anything. Oh no, he couldn't just simply 'like the bunny girl', he '_loved_ the bunny girl' and her smile, and the way she smiled just now had made his heart nearly leap out of his chest. Of course, with his iron resolve, he stopped himself from going crazy next to her, but he still had the urge to blush in front of everyone.

"Nee, dit is nie so nie! (1)" he cried in a foreign language, stuttering like a broken engine. The others only snickered, loving the anti-social Lord's sudden embarrassing act of hiding love. It was as if they had forgotten about the incident. It wasn't long before the gang's chattering went quiet.

"So," Ian had stressed the word until it sounded like 'SOOOOOOOOoooooooo…', "Where're we eating?"

* * *

Night's darkness had engulfed the Celestial Realm as the moon had beaten his brother, the sun, and taken control of the skies. Shawn could see, outside the window, that the back of the building was facing the sea, its waves monotonously slamming into the shore, wearing down the limestone. "Wonder if I look awesome in this…?" He showed himself on the mirror, his recently-put-on tuxedo like darkness below night's darkness (It just means it's really dark).

He, and all the others, were getting ready to dine with Jacque back in the Manor, and, seeing what a kind gesture that was, they happily accepted the offer and, at the moment, were getting ready to partake in the Manor Lord's dinner.

Seeing how he was ready to leave, he got out of his room, walked down to the entrance and waited.

And waited.

And waited

AND WAITED…

"…"

"Guys?" he spoke in the empty living room, no ears to hear his voice.

* * *

Unknown to him, the others were doing their own thing, taking their precious time for granted. Sain was asking everyone where Spade was, Ian was eating potato chips with Charybdis and Jordan was slowly making his way upstairs, to the roof. Why? Well, he was about to meet two Valkyries above the compound.

He silently opened the door and peered outside. In the moonlight, his eyes recognized the silhouette of Sharpshooter and Sniper, both of them watching the horizon with their weapon scopes. "Hey, you two," he spoke, his voice composed and in perfect English.

The two immediately looked back to see the Lord, who was dressed in the same attire he had wore during the morning hours. Seeing that he was not a threat, the two signaled him to come closer, and he did.

"So, anyone sneaking around the area?" asked Jordan, trying not to speak any different languages as to not confuse the two.

"No, no one has come into our sights yet…" said Sniper, her eye stuck on the opening of the optical scope.

"Yeah, we've been up here for a while, and there's been no one snooping around…" said Sharpshooter, her finger ready to press down on the trigger at any time.

The Lord gave a smirk, raising his glasses higher up his face and tapping his slender stick on the ground twice, "Well, I'll be off. I hope you don't go and fire upon the Manor Lord or his maids." In the future, he would regret this statement, for he had no clue as to what was behind the Manor's calm, innocent exterior.

* * *

"Phone?" Shawn raised his eyebrows, staring at a silver tray being held by a woman with orange hair, "Why'd I have to give my phone?"

The maid cleared her throat before explaining, "It is a custom among the people who visit the Manor to give their phones before they dine with the Master. If the phones were to ring, it would disrupt the feast."

"Oh, that makes **PERFECT** sense!" Ian dumped his Realm Phone on the tray before rushing inside. Shawn only looked at the tray, doubtful as to if he should obey the rules or continue in like nothing happened.

"Okay," he gave in to the rules, placing his phone on the tray, "But you better keep it safe."

The woman bowed to his request, and she watched him pass through the door. Later, it was Sain who placed the phone. Now there were three phones on the tray. There was just one more Lord who needed to give up his phone. Looking to Jordan, the maid requested, "Phone, please."

After quite a while of rummaging through his pockets, he looked at her and said, "Nope, phone must be back at the estate." Unknowingly to the maid, his phone was hidden inside his hoodie, which lay limp behind his neck.

The maid only raised an eyebrow at his excuse, but allowed him in. As he passed her, she leaned closer to his ears and whispered into them, "I hope you enjoy the food."

The Lord only gave a small grin before walking away, allowing other Lords behind him to deposit their phones.

* * *

After a while of collecting phones, the maid found a whole pile on her tray, which was weighing her down. Slowly, she stumbled to a door behind the manor, tray in both hands, and carefully opened the door. "Okay, I've got all the phones!" she panted.

The room she had entered was dark and full of shadows. In front of her was a workbench and all around were shelves full of tools of every kind and condition. It had seemed like the room was empty, but she knew _**he **_was here, straying away from the light. "Hey, are you gonna come out or what? I have been out there for approximately fifteen minutes and thirty two seconds, and you aren't going to reward me?"

That was when a snicker echoed through the darkness, and a man's silhouette entered the maid's field of vision. A gruff voice then asked her with a simple tone, "You got the phones?"

Nodding sheepishly, the maid set the trays down on the workbench and proceeded out of the door. "I'll be collecting them thirty three minutes forty one seconds later. Please finish before that time," she explained before walking away and closing the door.

The mysterious man only gave a chuckle and turned away from the door to face the dusty workbench. "Well, now," he blindly picked one of the phones and took it apart in a split second. On one of his hands was a small piece of metal that seemed to stick on the phone's chips. "With this," He held up one of the pieces close to his face, examining it with his sharp eyes, "Everything will go out with a bang tomorrow…"

* * *

"Mmm…" Ian gave a quiet moan as he savored the spaghetti, "Tastes better than this morning…" Jacque only gave a chuckle at the Alliance Leader's praise.

"Now, now, praise my chef for giving you this divine food."

Looking up from his plate, Ian started to look around him. The Dining Hall was well-lit and its size was huge, so to say, and it had an uncountable number of tables that were now being used by Lords from other Kingdoms. Some he knew, some he didn't. The floor was beautifully tiled with glistening marble, and so were the walls. Looking at the table, he saw that it was made of good-quality wood, sturdy, strong and smooth. Just what rich people owned. He could hear, from the other tables, the Lords chatting with one another about the place and about how misfortunate they were to have their oh-so-expensive chariots burned to crisps. Above him, the diamond chandelier gently swayed from its hinges, as if there was wind from a place unknown to him. All this made the Manor more astounding, and even of that, they were given the seat of honor, next to Jacque himself. Truly, this place was Heaven…

If it had not been for the others…

Sain silently scuttled around the Dining Hall as he made his way through the barricades of chairs and tables. "Hey," he whispered to a Lord he didn't know, "Have you seen Spade?"

The man, around the age of twenty, only glared in disgust at the other Lord's style of uniform, which consisted of just a plain t-shirt and baggy pants. "Urgh, another misfortunate Lord who can't even earn a piece of gold…" He looked away and continued dining on his steak, causing a vein to pop up from Sain's skull.

Jordan, on the other hand, was slowly sipping soup from a spoon. Even though he didn't look around, he knew that other Lords were watching him with confusion in their eyes, and he knew why. Tapping his stick on the floor, the Lords immediately looked away, afraid that he knew they were watching him.

The Lord didn't like attention.

Not one bit.

"Jacque," Shawn called out, "Are you sure we're safe from the 'Gods' Army'?"

"Yes, of course we are. All the doors are closed and I have my most trusted Valkyries guarding them," he reassured the Lord with a smile. Looking away, Jacque noticed one of his maids serving wine, so he turned back to Shawn and asked, "A wine lover, I suppose?"

Shawn only shrugged his shoulders and gave a quick thought about it, "Well, I mainly drink juice and milk, but I'm okay with wine…"

Jacque only gave a hearty chuckle before signaling the maid with his old, but still strong hands. And so, the Lords received their drinks. "Well," Shawn grasped the small glass of fine wine, "Bottom's up!"

Strangely, before he could even get one drop of liquid on his mouth, the Lord of the Manor stopped him, pushing his arm away from his lips.

"No, it is tradition amongst us that we drink after we have eaten. It is sweeter that way."

The Lord raised his eyebrows before he reluctantly placed the glass down. Jacque sighed in relief when he heard the glass touch the smooth surface of the table.

By now, Sain was starting to pick fights with Lords, his cockiness (And desperation of finding Spade) taking control of his actions, and Jordan was starting to get defensive, holding his stick close to him and muttering to himself about the people staring at him, which unfortunately caused him to garner more attention from the other Lords.

"Stop looking at me…!" Jordan stuttered with fear, his shaking eyes darting around its sockets trying to locate anyone coming closer by an inch.

Contrary to popular belief, Sain wasn't actually tall, as the other Lords believed, and he wasn't super charming and charismatic. In fact, he was nearly the opposite (In terms of emotions and personality)… And one Lord learned it the hard way…

"So you think you can beat me, shorty!?" a blonde man raised his fist in an attempt to intimidate the unknowingly higher ranked Lord.

"Anata wa watashi ga dareda ka shitte imasu ka? Watashi wa(2)!" the short Lord growled in Japanese. Of course, the other Lord had absolutely no idea what he was saying.

"Are you insulting me, runt!?" the other Lord retaliated, teeth bare and clenched, "I'll turn you into pulp, midget!"

The Lord's words really stirred up Sain's inner anger and the two started to quarrel and bicker like little children, their arms rising and their hands balling into fists on intervals. The other Lords around them sighed and cupped their face. Seeing such an embarrassing and stupid sight made them cringe in disgust and disappointment.

And they thought higher classed Lords were more formal…

* * *

"Well, have we all settled our hungry bellies?" Jacque rose from his mahogany chair and asked the people attending the dinner.

The Lords immediately replied with a quiet, but otherwise audible 'yes', pleasing the Manor Lord, who formed a smile on his face. "Ha ha, it is nice to see that you are pleased with your meal. Now, we have a final event before you all can go and sleep."

All the Lords quickly got up from their seats, except for the four, who had no idea what was happening. Slowly, they all stood up, albeit confused by the display.

"Now," Jacque gently picked up his glass of wine, coaxing all the others to do the exact same thing, "May we finish our dinner with a sip of wine, and may we sleep in peace today!"

His hand rose, and the wine glimmered in the light. All the Lords did the same, and when Jacque's hand went down, so did theirs. "Now, let us drink!"

Slowly, Jacque took his first sip of the wine, then it was the other's turn. But, here's a small twist:

Jordan, on the other hand, was still paranoid about people looking at him, so his stick was on his hand at all times. Before anyone took even one drop of wine, someone spooked Jordan from behind.

A maid, wearing glasses, had wanted to ask him to put his stick down by lightly tapping his shoulder and telling him to do so, but when she tapped his shoulder, he instead got so surprised that he threw his stick like a spear…

Which started bouncing across the whole room, first breaking someone's glass of wine in its trail of trajectory (It was travelling so fast, it created a perfect hole on the glass), then breaking everyone's glass (A lucky shot, I suppose?), which shocked them so much that some hid below the tables.

"Get down!" Shawn pushed Jacque below the table, saving him from a super-fast moving stick from hitting (And perhaps killing) him. Jordan was still in a daze at this time, but he snapped out of his trance when he noticed the stick flying to him.

"**HOLY-!**" he screamed in surprise.

"**OH MY GLOB!**" screamed the others in surprise.

After the two exchanges of sentences, the stick finally hit its target.

In the most painful place possible…

Around him, everyone had the powerful urge to scream in shock. Their faces were all frozen in a 'OMG' face, their mouths hanging as if they would touch the ground. Shawn's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, all of Sain's hair stood up and his mouth hanged open and Ian nearly puked without knowing it. Jacque only watched, his eyes wider than ever before.

Jordan didn't know what had happened that made all of the others so shocked. All he remembered after seeing the stick was a small, but sharp pain coursing through his body, first starting below his hips. Was it because his twin monocles were out that they stared in horror? Was it because his stick wasn't in his hand, nor was it bouncing around?

He had expected the stick to smash through his torso, but everyone's eyes said otherwise. They were all looking down, below his torso. Why, he thought.

That was when it hit him.

Hard.

The Lord slowly looked down.

The Lord saw a terrible sight.

The Lord looked back up.

The Lord wanted to scream.

The Lord fell and died.

Just kidding, he didn't die, but he was in so much agony, everyone found him unconscious and on the ground. All that Jordan could feel was his hand twitching as the pain continued to smack his nerves over and over. Froth slowly seeped from his mouth as his eyes rolled back into their heads. _The floor…_ his thoughts went on for a few more seconds, _Is so cold…~~_

The other Lords continued to stay in their spot, watching the Lord sprawled on the ground, half dead and unable to ever make babies (What?). Silence befell the dining room.

Until Ian started to run out of the room to look for the nearest window that was not as high as the roof…

Then silence befell again…

Until Sain screamed and made everyone else scream, as if they all knew Jordan's immense wave of pain.

And so, the night was over for the horror-stricken Lords, who now had something they will never forget…

* * *

"Have you passed back the phones?" the ominous but familiar voice asked the maid with the orange hair.

"Of course I have. So what's the next phase?"

The man in the shadows started to roar with laughter as he reminded the woman of the event that happened during the dinner, completely ignoring her question.

"Hey, I asked a question, did I not?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, now we wait… Tomorrow's going to be a 'blast'…" the man started to laugh again.

* * *

Jacque stared from the window in his office, watching the building that housed the Lords. Well, _most_ of them. Taking a glimpse behind him, he turned back to the window before asking the woman who had appeared behind him, "Have you done the job?"

"Yes…" she gave a sly smile, her grip on her giant sword tightening, squeezing some of the blood between her palms out, "Target twenty-four and twenty-five are dead… As the Master requested…"

Jacque placed a hand on his chin, thinking. "Yes, those two had got wind of our plans. They had to die early…"

Before he could say more, his own Realm Phone started to vibrate. A message had been sent to him. But by who?

Taking out his phone, he read the message.

* * *

Hiding behind the estate containing the Lords was a cliff, and below it was the ocean, and hundreds of jagged rocks. Easy to remember, right? So how could he not remember this place?

Closing his phone, the mysterious man rested his back on the wall of the estate as he stared to the magnificent ocean which was illuminated by the giant moon.

"I wonder…" he muttered to himself, "If you've got the message, Jacque…"

_**Three Lords down**_

_**Two hundred seventy three to go**_

_**More must die tomorrow**_

_**P.S. Change of Plans**_

* * *

_**CHANGE OF PLANS**_

* * *

(1): Afrikaan for 'No, it is not so'.

(2): Roughly translates to 'Do you know who I am? I am Sain! (Google Translate did it!)

**Well, was that good. Okay, some of you might be questioning about the plot. First of all, to summarise what has happened, the four Lords (Who are all in an Alliance together) have an invitation to Jacque's Manor. Their carriages get destroyed, then someone dies in the initial fire. The Lords then go dining in this chapter. Oh yeah, there's a group of bad'uns in this fanfic (If you didn't know that, already). Okay, guys, expect a new chapter soon! Essay King, out!**


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello, everyone! Sorry for the late update, my computer broke and I had to reformat it, meaning I lost everything, even this chapter. It was actually very long, so I sulked for a few days all because I lost this chapter. I had to rewrite it from scratch, but, seeing how long it had been since I updated the fanfiction, I decided to post only this part of it. The next chapter should come out next week or even next month, if I feel lazy._

_~~~ I am so lazy ~~~_

* * *

"To be... Or not to be…"

Spade could only wheeze and take a deep breath of the musty air, feeling the trickle of sweat down her forehead and the rough floor on her fine legs. She could hear the voice echo through the dark, moss-covered brick room, with the source hiding in the shadows. Spade dreaded the day when she would meet 'him' again. The cocky smile that was burned into her strong mind the dark expression that lay dormant in his eyes piercing through her own.

She would have preferred death over him.

Before she could speak or even move an inch, a hand gently, although forcefully, clasped on her face, pulling her up so that she could see the smile of a man she had tried to forget many years before. The man's breath glided through her pale face, and the smell of something horrid lingered in his mouth.

"That is the question… Am I right, Spade?"

She could only spit a glob of saliva at the man's face, and she knew, in the instant when he stared deeper into her eyes, that he was agitated, insulted by the speck of fluid on his face. "Think you can get away with everything, assassin?"

Standing up, the man's hand rushed to her cheeks, smacking her with so much force that it literally surprised her. A red imprint of a hand was all that was left of the attack, and, boy, it hurt. Spade had started to cough, and she felt like regurgitating the contents of her stomach. Her whole body felt weak and limp, especially her stomach, mainly because of the fact that the people detaining her had been kicking her in the abdomen this whole time.

"You've gone soft, have you not?"

Again, the man grabbed her face and pulled it towards his. "Maybe it's because you've been with those squishy Lords for so long…"

Her ears nearly tore themselves off when they heard his voice. A cocky speech pattern like an idiot, but with words pronounced correctly and sentences well-worded like a civilized person. A strange mix and one she hated all her life. She had heard these kinds of accents before, when she was working for Rich people looking for a hitman like her, and yes, she despised people like them, but it was all for the money and fame. Well, today wasn't about the money and fame... She would have preferred her own Lord's strange usage of Japanese over this man's voice.

"Hmm, giving me the silent treatment? Okay, then…"

She could feel his grasp on her face lighten up until he was grasping no more, and her head flopped down, limp and weak. Spade could hear the footsteps going further and further away. The assassin had thought that her wish came true. She was going to have peace and quiet and some time for her to rest from all the beatings committed to her by the people who came in and out.

Sadly, her wish might never even be granted. Before the man exited through the shadows, he stopped dead in his tracks. Turning around, he whispered to her, "I might just give your spear a dent or two."

By then, instinct had gotten over her. With all the strength she had left, she tried to stand up and miraculously break the chains that ensnared her entire body, but of course, that never happened. The steel chains never broke. All around the small dusty room, the sounds of chains clattering together and the groans and gasps of a woman echoed through the walls. She kept her frustration going for at least a minute before she fell to the ground.

She was at the end of her strength. She couldn't protect her beloved spear… The one that helped her shed the blood of a hundred assassination targets…

Again mustering her strength, she gave a weak cry to him, "Please… Not my…" The Valkyrie couldn't finish her plea. Her breathing slowly became hoarse, as if she was drowning in the dust.

"Oh," the man's tone became one of sick joy, "You spoke! Interesting! Now I have the heart to tell you what we're going to do, AND spare your spear!"

Spade heard the twirling of feet as he turned around to face the assassin. "You know about yesterday? At… umm… dinner time, I think? We served the incompetent idiots you call your Masters wine. But, to my highest standard, it wasn't ordinary wine…"

She immediately knew what he meant. 'Not ordinary wine'… but an assassin's lowest-grade assassination weapon, poisons. Not only was that an insulting way to kill people (In Spade's philosophy), it was a stupid death for the people she knew. Was everyone dead now, had all her companions died by poisoning? If so, then that meant that no one was out to save her. Not even her idiot Master…

"Don't fret about it. They're all alive… except three people, of course. Don't worry, they are not your friends, oh wait, you don't have friends!" the man paused for a few seconds before giving an indescribable glare at her, as if he was feigning sorrow, "Sad, indeed…"

She stayed emotionless as the insult rippled her eardrums. Spade knew that insulting stubborn, proud people back would be meaningless, so she kept quiet, processing the information given to her by _him_.

"Well, tomorrow's going to be different, of course…" the man chuckled to himself as a thought came to his shadowed mind, "Today, some of your Lords are going out with a bang, but not everyone."

Spade felt a presence unusually close to her, and so she raised her heavy head, only to be greeted by the same man's face. He was crouching only a few feet away, an innocent expression disgustingly printed on his 'stupid face'. "I have a plan for your four Lords…"

She watched drearily as he rose up again, now ready to exit the dark room. But before she could be left at peace in her own hell, the man quickly turned around with his leg outstretched and in the direction of her head. And in an instant, she became unconscious, unaware of the blood that slowly crawled out from her new wound.

"And my plan's no joke…" Straightening his dark tie, the man opened the moldy door and bathed in the light, and for the first time after a while, he revealed himself to the candlelight, his dark hair sleek and neatly combed back, his crimson pair of eyes glaring at the distance and his wide smile exposing his sharpened, white teeth. "And no plan's a joke when it comes to the Revolution…"

"Especially when it comes to me…"

* * *

Sain was on the floor. Yes, the great Trump Card of the four Lords' alliance was sprawled on the floor, awake and confused as heck. The moon was slowly setting, and, for the whole entire night, the Lord was, surprisingly, never pushed away by his Valkyrie.

Sain and Spade shared the same bed... Okay, well, it was not for sexual purposes or anything of the likes, but Spade had insisted it was for 'protection from dangerous enemies', and of course he accepted the idea. When the Valkyrie started to sleep with him (Albeit a few feet away) on the same bed, he started to have a tendency to move and roll to the side Spade would sleep on, and that was mainly the right side, and of course, the Valkyrie would push, punch, smack, or downright kick him away. That would happen a few times every night, but today was different.

Where was Spade?

Slowly and shakily standing up from the tiled floor, Sain, with his hands, brushed the dust off his shirt (side note, they didn't change their clothes), and started to look around the room, expecting to see a long dress-cladded assassin with a ponytail, but all he was the room and nothing else. Puzzled by the lack of her oh-so-addicting presence, he then examined the bed. The untidy resting place was all messed up, with the blanket on the ground and the pillows everywhere. Spade would never let that happen. She would always complain about beds being dirty, paranoid that another assassin would sneak a dangerous weapon or animal in the heap of blankets and pillows.

So why was it so messed up?

"Spade?" Sain turned his head to every known direction, trying to see if she had been in this room at all. Still, even with all the looking around and investigating, he had concluded that she was never in this room at all. He found that strange, really strange. For so many months, Spade stayed with him in his bed, never TRULY complaining about it and never leaving in the middle of the night, but today was a bit different. Why was it so different?

For the whole night, Sain had tried to look for his beloved Valkyrie, who disappeared before dinner, to no avail. But he did not lose hope there. He had hoped that she would come back during the night to join him on the bed (Albeit a few feet away), but that didn't seem the case here. Where did she go?

Before he could think any further, a wave of discomfort washed his thoughts away. His throat was dry, and it started to irritate him, so he had decided to grab a drink and calm down about the whole 'Where is Spade?' ordeal. Walking out from his room, he shuffled through the dark corridors, climbed down the long flight of stairs and went into the kitchen, which was strangely small for a place used to cook food. Grabbing a glass, he approached the sink and tried to open the tap, ready to receive the source of life.

That never came.

"Huh?" he started to lightly smack the tap, puzzled and annoyed that water did not come out from its mouth. Then he decided to hit harder, but when he did, the tap immediately tore off.

Wait, 'tore off'?

He didn't know why, but he heard a strange tearing sound when he broke the sink's tap, and, picking the now-dismembered tap up, he had found out why it 'tore off'. It was made of paper, soaked with silver paint.

"Nani (1)?" he blinked, trying to take all the details in. Why was the tap made of paper and not stainless steel? Was everything else made of paper? Realizing that he was still holding on to the fake tap, he immediately released his grip on it, letting it plummet to the ground with a soft 'tap' sound.

Slowly taking a step back, he wanted to run and tell the others, but as he turned around, he collided with someone, making him and the person fall on to the ground, instantly feeling the pain of smacking the wooden floor. As he groaned in agony, he had a small glimpse of the person he had bumped into, and it was not what he had remotely expected.

It was a little girl.

In the shadows, it was hard to identify her, but he could see, with the limited light of the moon, that she had short, orange hair, a small stature and was wearing a maid outfit, tailored for her size. On one of her hands was a broom with a hard, wooden handle and a head made of real straws. Other than that, he couldn't make out her face or anything else that he thought was important.

"Anata dare?" his words echoed around the whole estate, only entering both his and the girl's ears. As he slowly stood up, he could see her, still on the ground, blink in confusion, and he started to ask himself why, until he found out that he had spoken in Japanese by accident. "Who…" he quickly corrected himself and offered a hand to her, "Are you?"

The girl gave a light giggle before taking the Lord's hand and pulling herself up. Dusting her dress, she gave a wide smile before answering his question, "I'm Brim, Loyal Maid of Jacque and the only maid that has the time to tend to the Lords and their Valkyries!" She then gave a quick bow out of respect.

While Brim was bowing, question started to appear in Sain's mind. Was she really a maid? Why is she so young, then? Why was she here?

By now, the little maid had noticed his overall confusion about her, so she asked, "What's wrong, Lord Sain?" Again, another question came out in the Lord's mind. How did she know his name? Even if Jacque had given her the list of names for all the Lords, it was highly unlikely that he would give her an overall description of everyone, and he certainly did not give her a picture of himself, and he clearly remembered that the Owner of the Manor never took a photo of the Lords.

"H-how did you know my name?" he asked in a quiet tone, not wanting to make a fuss about it.

"Oh, your name?" Brim cocked her head to the side and started to process the question's meaning. After a while, the meaning got into her brain, and she started to giggle softly as if she had heard a joke. In an instant, she had prepared her answer, and replied with a wide grin, "I've been following you for a while!"

The Lord gasped when she gave the answer as a thought popped up in his mind. _She's a stalker!_ His voice screamed in his mind as he tried to comprehend the image. Could she have been looking at him in the distance all this time? Seeing how she was so small, it would have been easy for her to hide in the crowd. But then, how did she know her name if she was looking from afar? Had she actually heard his name being called out once? Still, why would she want to follow him? Even if she liked him or anything, his heart would still belong to Spade.

"Just KIDDING!" Brim blurted out, falling on her back and laughing out loud, placing her hands on her stomach as the laughing started to cramp her abdomen. Sain's eyes started to twitch, as anger started to claw its way through his body. He had been tricked, by a little girl.

Shameful display…

"Jacque," she wiped a tear off her young face, "Told me all about your gang. You're the guy with the lousy clothes, Shawn's the guy that looks like a business man, Ian's the funny, chubby man, and Jordan has a stick, right?!"

Shaking his head in disbelief, Sain answered with a yes, causing her to laugh some more and drop her broom. By now, the place was unnervingly hot. Sweat trickled down the Lord's chin, and his body had gotten all sticky due to the sweat. He had found that strange, seeing how it was quite cold just a moment before, when he was in his bed, sleeping alone.

"Oh, you noticed?" the young maid stopped laughing, staring at the Japanese with large, eager eyes, "The place always goes from hot to cold, cold to hot, because of the ocean below. I don't know how it works, but that was what Jacque told me."

"Oh," he gave a nod to tell her that he understood her explanation. He could only chuckle at how smart and cunning the little girl was. Her cheery voice and smile really was effective enough to make a smile pop out of the older man's face.

Maybe she wasn't so bad, after all.

"Anata ga warui kodomode wa arimasen..." he muttered gently to her with a smile, forgiving all that she did in his mind. Again, she cocked her head, unable to understand the language he was using. Sighing, he repeated himself, "You ain't a bad kid."

She immediately replied back with her own smile, happy to receive what she had thought was a compliment. Picking up her broom, she straightened herself and said, "You know what, you should go to sleep, now."Type text or a website address or translate a document.

Daijōbu, un," that was when he remembered something he wanted to ask. Why the heck was the tap made of paper? "Wait, before I go, why is the tap made of paper?"

"Huh?" she muttered, as if she could not understand his question. In the light of the moon, Sain could see a shift in her expression. She still had the smile, but the feeling of looking at it was different. Her eyes were darker, and they seemed to pierce through his soul in the strangest ways. He secretly shuddered, the face a bit too much for his brain to endure, especially one coming out from a little girl like Brim.

"So… You…" she growled, surprising the Lord. Before she could continue, a hand tightly grasped the man's head, and a powerful push made him plummet to the ground, again. All he could hear was the smack he made as his back collided the floor, and the sound of metal dragging on the wood. Groaning in pain, he slowly opened his eyes, to meet a face shrouded in shadows.

"Found out?" an adult, feminine voice finished the young maid's sentence, and at that moment, Sain blacked out.


End file.
